Which art teacher's ideas most influenced Georgia O'Keeffe's move toward abstraction?

Arthur Wesley Dow's ideas strongly influenced Georgia O'Keeffe's move toward abstraction. Dow taught that artists could build powerful compositions from line, color, and tonal relationships rather than merely reproduce the visible world.

O'Keeffe studied Dow's methods in 1912 while taking a summer course at the University of Virginia. She later described the experience as a breakthrough because it freed her from the academic expectation that art should imitate nature literally.

Dow's influence did not make O'Keeffe a conventional follower. She adapted his principles to create highly personal abstractions, especially in charcoal and watercolor. Her approach was also shaped by her own observations of landscapes, plants, and architecture. The connection is sometimes confused with her formal schooling at the Art Students League, but Dow's compositional theories were the crucial turning point.